Life, Love, and Death
by aprilroad0408
Summary: When 17 year old Brooke Davis is murdered she leaves behind a life of family, friends, and secrets that all are about to come out. OTH/GG/TVD
1. Chapter 1

In the 14 years Detective Alaric Saltzman has been a detective he has never seen of a case like this. Maybe it's because he works with the Tree Hill Police Department. You see, Tree Hill, North Carolina is a small, peaceful town where bad things just tend not to happen. It's filled with people who are kind and warm. This isn't a place of hatred or anger. That was until this awful crime happened.

So here he is, standing next to his partner, Detective Karen Roe, in front a room filled with reporters, getting ready to reveal the details of this crime.

"This morning, November 7, 2010, at 7:18 a.m. 17 year old Brooke Davis' body was found dear Palace Lake by a fisherman. Time of death is somewhere around 11 p.m. on November 6, 2010. Her body was found badly bruised, showing signs of a beating. Cause of death….strangulation".

Then as if on cue every voice in the room got loud, screaming questions like when, why, and who. It would be a long time before he could answer those questions. But he had promised himself and the victim's family that he would.

"I cannot answer any questions at this time about the ongoing investigation." and with that he and Karen walked off the stage.

The crime made no sense. He was told that Brooke was the most popular girl at school with tons of friends and a loving boyfriend. She had tons of energy and spirit and was loved by everybody. So that's why he didn't understand who would brutally beat and murder this caring young girl. But you can bet he was going to find out. No matter how long it took.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here it is. The beginning of the story. I hope you all like it. (:**

**-April 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, or The Vampire Diaries. They belong to their rightful owners.**

**-aprilxroad-**Dead. His beautiful, sarcastic, funny, crazy, perfect step-sister is dead. How could this happen? Why would someone murder Brooke? She was everything to everyone.

It's been ten whole minutes since the detective's have told Brooke's family about her death. Her step-brother, Dan Humphrey, is sitting on the couch hugging his younger sister, Jenny, as she sobs uncontrollably.

The three of them were so close. Even though they weren't biologically related their parents had been married for eleven years which made them a family.

Dan looked over to the corner of the room where his dad, Rufus, is holding his very unstable step-mother, Victoria, from collapsing onto the ground in a heap.

Even though Victoria and Brooke weren't exactly close and Victoria could be seen by some as an unfit mother, it still isn't fair to have your child taken away from you.

Dan decided to call the two people most important to Brooke, her best friend and his girlfriend, Elena Gilbert and his best friend and her boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore.

There was a press conference being held that night where the detectives would tell reporters that Brooke's body was found and he wanted Stefan and Elena to know from him before the story hit and everyone in Tree Hill would know about Brooke's death.

He dug his phone out of his pocket all the while still hugging Jenny and getting rid of the huge ball in his throat that had formed once he had heard the news, dialed his girlfriend's number, knowing that after her told her, her whole world would come crashing down.

-aprilxroad-

Elena dropped the phone on ground and fell to her knees while her chest racked with sobs. This must have been some kind of practical joke.

Brooke can't be dead. Because if Brookes dead then nothing else is right in the world.

But she is and Elena can feel her heart slowly shattering into a million pieces. How could this happen to Brooke Davis of all people?

What is she supposed to do now without her best friend? Who is she supposed to talk to when she has a problem or good news or when she just needs someone to be there? Sure she has Dan and Haley and Serena and Jeremy that are there for her but none of them are Brooke.

Brooke has been her best friend for sixteen years ever since the day Elena's mom watched Brooke for Brooke's mom, who she worked with, when they were just one. They had played together the whole day and after that it was a friendship that would never die. Brooke had been there through everything and they had been best friends no matter what. Elena was there for Brooke whenever Brooke's mom ignored the fact that she existed and Brooke was there for Elena when Elena's parents died.

But now that was all gone. Their lifelong friendship full of love and laughter and happiness was gone. Her Brooke was gone forever. And Elena knew that her life would never be the same.

-aprilxroad-

Empty. He feels empty. His girlfriend is dead and he is now empty. Stefan sits on his bed. He's empty.

He doesn't get it. Brooke was amazing. She was kind to everyone she met. Even the people who she didn't like were given smiles. Why would someone hurt her?

He loves her. Make that _loved_ her. She's dead so he can't _love_ her he has to have _loved _her. Right?

What about his plans? His plans to marry her and be with her and have a family with her. There all gone now. Just like she is.

How could this have happened? He should have been with her. He should have protected her. That's his job. To protect the woman he loves. If he couldn't even do that, what can he do?

What now? What does he do now? What does he say to people? To her family? He doesn't know. He's empty.

Finally he feels something besides emptiness. Grief. His feels his chest tightening. He's crying. He can't stop.

Damon walks in. He has no idea what he just walked into. Should Stefan even tell him? Probably.

"Why so gloom brother? What, did you and Brooke have another 'you hang up, no you hang up' fight?" Damon asks sarcastically. Stefan looks up at him. When Damon sees his face he knows whatever it is it, it's bad.

"What?" he asks. Stefan barely manages to get the two words out that have changed his live forever.

"Brookes dead."

-aprilxroad-

"Brookes dead."

Damon can't believe it. Brooke? Dead? That can't be right?

Brooke is to strong and confident and powerful to die. There must be some mistake.

But there isn't.

Damon and Brooke were close. They weren't exactly besties for life but they were still close.

They had dated freshman year but after some major drama they decided it would just be better to be friends.

They hung out a lot. And by hung out he meant skipped school with her a lot.

But that wouldn't be happening anymore and that hurt. A lot. So he just sat down next to his brother unable to say anything.

As he watched his brother cry, his heart hurt. He didn't like to see anyone like this especially his brother. So he did the only thing he could think of and hugged his brother hoping that both of them would be ok.

-aprilxroad-

Serena hung up the phone and let out a sob. "Haley!" she screamed.

Her twin sister Haley ran into her sister's room. She saw Serena crying and immediately got worried. This can't be good.

"What?" Haley asked.

Serena took a deep breath. "It's Brooke. Shes….shes…." Serena couldn't finish. She just cried.

Haley broke down. "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

Haley ran to Serena and hugged her, holding on for dear life because her legs could barely hold her up.

Haley and Serena were two of Brooke's closest friends. They loved her so much. It was Brooke, Elena, Haley, and Serena who ran Tree Hill High School. Brooke was everything to them.

Not that it mattered now. She was dead and the thought scared the two of them beyond belief.

Haley and Serena stood in Serena's room, holding on to each other for stability and because they needed each other right now more than ever.

-aprilxroad-

Pain. Hurt. Angst. Guilt. Grief. Sadness. Lost. Numbness. Anger.

This is what Chuck Bass felt the second his step-sisters uttered the words he hoped he would never have to hear.

So Chuck dealt with it the only way he knew how. He sat on the floor of his huge bedroom with a bottle of fifty year old scotch in one hand and some piece of jewelry in the other.

He sat there drinking and started to cry, knowing that everything he had wanted and everything he dreamed for was dead.

Just like Brooke Penelope Davis.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey Everyone! So I know that I haven't updated in like FOREVER and I'm sorry about that but I haven't had time or inspiration for the story. But now I do. YEAH!

So here's the new chapter. It's sort of a transition chapter to introduce the characters that will be in the story and also next chapter the investigation will start. I'm also putting Blair, Rachel, and Peyton in the story next chapter. Also, just for reference, Stefan and Damon are not vampires. And I'm not putting anymore TVD characters in. So if you wanted that well…sorry.

Anyway, here's chapter 3! Hopefully it won't take be 5 months before the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, or The Vampire Diaries

_**-aprilxroad-**_

Everyone had gathered at the Davis-Humphrey household to be together.

Elena arrived first with her brother Jeremy. Elena ran over to her boyfriend and hugged him sobbing hysterically.

Jeremy went over to his best friend, Jenny, and made sure she was ok. They cried together. Brooke was like a sister to him.

Stefan and Damon were next to arrive. They sat on the couch across from Dan and Elena watching as Elena cried and shook to no end. Dan holding on to her the whole time.

Serena and Haley came in next and brought Lucas and Nathan Scott with them. Lucas was one of Dan and Stefan's closest friends. Nathan was Serena's boyfriend and best friends with Damon and Chuck.

Nate Archibald was the last one to show up. He was a very good friend of Dan's but the minute he walked through the door he went to Haley. He held her as she cried in his arms.

Everyone sat and waited for the press conference about Brooke's death to come on the TV. But while everyone was waiting for that Elena was waiting for something else.

Make that _someone _else.

"_Look Chuck I don't know why you keep putting it off." Elena questioned her friend._

_Elena and Chuck had been really close since they were put in the same class in second grade. Elena and Brooke hadn't been in the same class so she made friends with Chuck and they had been best friends ever since._

_Chuck looked at her. They were hanging out in Chuck's room like usual. And just like usual Elena was bothering him with questions. "Putting what off, Lani?" that was his nickname for her, Lani._

_She huffed in frustration. They had been through this before._

"_Why do you keep putting off telling Brooke that your in __**love**__ with her?" Her voice was cool. She knew she was right. Chuck had been in love with Brooke since they met and Elena knew it. She just didn't understand why he never told her._

_Chuck looked at Elena sternly. "Don't start with me."_

"_I won't 'start with you' once you admit how you feel about Brooke to her. Or me. Or yourself." She said putting her hands on her hips. "Come on Chuck. I know your in love with her"._

"_You keep believing that Lani." He said while walking off towards the bar area._

"_You bet your ass I will!" She yelled after him. She sat down on his bed smiling to herself._

_Brooke and Chuck. They would be together one day even if Elena had to force Chuck to admit how he felt. They would be together and she just knew it._

She waited and waited and waited for Chuck to walk through those doors. But he didn't. And that made her angry. He should be there for her. For Brooke. And she was really pissed of. And upset. And hurt.

But most of all she was worried.

She knew how Chuck got with things like this. She had seen it when his father died. He was probably drinking. And getting high. She couldn't help it. She was worried about him.

Just then the news turned on and Brooke's picture flashed on the screen. All thoughts of Chuck were erased with tears as she put her head against her boyfriend's chest and cried while the detectives reported on Brooke's death.


	4. Chapter 4

Wow! A new chapter in less than 5 months thats crazy!

Anyway I know this chapter is mostly about Blair but I wanted to show you the relationship between the two. Next chapter will have all of the characters and more flashbacks.

Also if you have any idea who you think the killer should be or will be, leave a comment. Honestly I have no idea who its gonna be yet.

I am totally on the wagon for this story now so expect more chapters coming soon. Im so excited! haha.

Im not sure how I feel about this chapter so hope you like it.

Oh and real quick, Peyton's throwing up cause she upset in case you didn't get that. Sorry but I'm dumb and probably wouldn't have gotten that.

Enjoy!

-April

Disclaimor: I do not own One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, or The Vampire Diaries.

_**-aprilxroad-**_

The next day at Tree Hill High School was a disaster.

You would of though the President and the Queen had died in the same day.

But no. It was only one high school girl. One _fucking_ high school girl.

Or, at least, that's what Blair Waldorf thought.

Blair Waldorf is beautiful, smart, sexy, rich, popular, and above all a total bitch. But people still loved her. Not as much as Brooke Davis though.

Its funny because you would think Brooke and Blair were best friends. They were two of Tree Hill's most beautiful and rich. Their mothers were best friends. Both had gorgeous brown hair and tons of friends. But that was the reason they hated each other so much.

Being almost identical was what drove them apart. The competition of being better than the other. It started from birth and took off from there. And somehow Brooke kept winning. Even when she was dead.

As Blair walked down the hall of Tree Hill High School, Prada heels clicking all the way, she rolled her eyes.

Tons of girls were on there knees crying. Guys were bowing their heads. Pictures of Brooke were everywhere. Her locker looked like a freaking shrine. Even a few teachers had tears in their eyes. It was _ridiculous_.

But Blair held her head high as she continued to walk down the hall to the old tutor room which was now labeled _"Questioning Room"_.

Blair tossed her long chocolate brown hair back and opened the door.

Inside was a handsome man in his early thirties and a kind looking women in her mid forties. Both were in police uniforms.

"Hello Blair. My name is Karen Roe and this is my partner, Alaric Saltzman. Were the detectives working on Miss Davis' case." Said the woman, sweetly.

"Hi" was all she said back.

"Please have a seat Miss Waldorf." Said the man motioning to the seat across from him.

Blair sat down plopping her Gucci purse on the ground next to her.

"Ok Miss Waldorf", said Alaric, "why don't you start with telling us your relationship with the victim."

Blair smirked. "Well, to sum it up, Brooke and I were enemies from birth."

The detectives looked at each other. "Ok. And when was the last time you saw Brooke?" asked Karen.

"Friday, the day before she died. It was at the basketball game."

_Blair walked down the bleachers towards the court. The Ravens had won yet another game._

_Blair stood on the court waiting for her boyfriend, Lucas Scott, to come out of the locker room._

_As she applied a new layer of lip gloss the girl's locker room doors opened and out popped a bubbly Brooke Davis and cheery Elena Gilbert. Blair rolled her eyes._

_"So what are we doing tonight?" Brooke asked excitedly._

_"I think there's a party at Nathan's beach house." replied Elena._

_"Awesome!" as the two passed Blair, Brooke looked up "Waldorf." Brooke said coldly._

_"Davis" Blair replied icily._

_Brooke narrowed her eyes at Blair for a quick second and then continued talking to Elena about that stupid party._

_Blair stared at Brooke as she walked towards the guy's locker room entrance. No comebacks. No bitchy remarks. Blair couldn't believe Brooke just walked away from a perfectly good chance to get in a bitch fight._

_Blair continued to stare at Brooke as she went to greet Stefan and left the gym with him and Elena._

_Blair finally snapped back to reality when Lucas walked into the gym._

_"Hey babe." he said sweetly._

_"Hey you. Nice game." she said smiling and kissed him._

_"Thanks" he said and with that they left the gym._

"And that was the last time I saw her."

The detectives look at her intently. "And you said it was weird that Miss Davis didn't try to get into a fight with you?" Alaric asked furrowing his brow.

"Yes."

They looked at each other than back at Blair. "Now can you just tell us where you were at the time of the murder?"

"Of course. I was at my boyfriends house. He can confirm that." When she saw them share a look she added, "And I can assure you, detectives, that even though Brooke and I hated each other, I would never kill her."

Karen smiled kindly at Blair. "Well thank you Miss Waldorf for the information. You may go now."

And with that Blair smiled, grabbed her purse, and walked out of the room.

_**-aprilxroad-**_

Rachel Gatina stood at her locker waiting for her friend to get out of the interrogation room when a greasy-haired freshman came up to her with a box full of yellow ribbons.

"Hello." the girl squeaked. "M-my name is A-A-Amy and I was wondering if you would like a B-Brooke Davis memorial r-ribbon."

Rachel looked at the girl. She was small and scared and had a yellow ribbon attached to her hideous green shirt.

"No thanks. But if you wanna go do something useful, you should go shave that gross mustache your growing. Ok, kid?"

The young girl looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment and ran off with the box in hand.

"Harsh Rach. Don't you think?" said the smirking brunette that was walking towards her.

Rachel shot her a smirk back. "Since when did you care if I was nice to freshman?"

Blair laughed "Never. I love when you torture freshman and never want you to stop. "

"Good, because I love it." The redhead looked at her friend of 6 years. "So how was the interrogation?"

"Stupid as hell just like I thought." Blair looked around. "Whats with all the yellow ribbons?"

"They're for Brooke." Blair raised her eyebrows curiously. "Apparently yellow was her favorite color, so some dumb ass decided to make yellow ribbons for people to wear." Rachel explained.

Blair rolled her eyes. "How pathetic can people get?"

Rachel shut her locker and turned to look at people wearing the ribbons. "I know. Even in death, the bitch has everyone falling all over her."

Blair pursed her lips in disgust as she eyed the annoying large amount of people crowding Brooke's locker.

"Where's Peyt?" she asked thinking of her curly haired friend.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since the party Friday."

Just then the bell rang and the two girls parted ways and walked to class.

But as everyone else went to their classes a certain curly headed fake blonde was throwing up in a bathroom stall.

Peyton Sawyer sat up on the floor of the stall and cried until she could barely breathe because she had just found out that morning that Brooke Davis, someone that for years she called her best friend, was dead.


End file.
